Introduction
The course will be divided into two main parts. The first part deals with accounting issues from a regulatory and economic perspective; while the second part deals with direct and indirect tax issues. Although accounting and tax often is considered as two separate parts, there is much interplay between these two branches of law.
Hence, the course will to a great extent integrate the two topics. This will be done for example by having seminars where we are analyzing interdisciplinary topics, and further some of the traditional lectures will be held together with lecturers specialized in accounting and lectures specialized in tax.
Accounting
The course consists of two major parts in accounting:
The first part is accounting regulation at Norwegian, European and International (IFRS) Level. The students should understand the relationship between these three levels and also understand the basic measurement issues at all three levels.
Secondly, the course adopts a user’s perspective in reviewing accounting practices, procedures and disclosure requirements. We will examine where to find the information and what it indicates about the structure, strategy and performance of the company.
Further, the course aims to give the students an understanding of the relationship between direct tax and accounting. Both disciplines base their regulation on an analysis of the same basic transactions. Even so, measurements of for example depreciations are treated differently under the two disciplines.
Direct and indirect tax
The course aims to give students a basic understanding of how to treat direct and indirect tax issues in trade and industry. In indirect tax, the course mainly focuses on Value Added Tax (VAT). The students will achieve good knowledge both about Norwegian tax issues, but also good knowledge about the most important issues in international tax. Under both domestic and international tax, the students will be trained in detecting and analyzing tax avoidance schemes. In addition to the juridical side of direct and indirect tax, the students will get a basic understanding of the economic effect of various tax systems.
Tax legislation has become increasingly extensive and technically complex, so that financial officers and accountants need to concentrate on learning direct and indirect tax law. In order to make appropriate choices between various financial alternatives, one must often understand the difficult interplay between the rules of accounting, company law, and direct and indirect tax law.